There are probably many more pressing issues to address in Jefferson City council meetings than a Civil War inscription. But here we go again.
Some background of this saga is in order.
In 1933 the local Minnie Davis chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy erected a marker to commemorate the thwarted confederate attack on Jefferson City October 7, 1864. The plaque that was mounted on a large rock read, “Deciding against attack the Confederate Army under General Sterling Price turned from Jefferson City, October 7, 1864. This marker dedicated April 5, 1933 by Winnie Davis Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy”.
The marker was first located at the intersection of Green Berry and Hough Park Roads, as this was presumably where the Rebels turned west away from the city. But in 1955 the marker was moved to the intersection of Fairmount Boulevard and Moreau Drive. Over the years the marker attracted little notice or curiosity by passers-by. Few knew the history referred to by the marker or the organization that erected it.
Nationwide, the UDC erected over 700 monuments/markers between 1895 and 1950 to honor their confederate heroes. Jefferson City’s little marker was one of them.
At its inception in 1894, the UDC perpetuated a revisionist history that glorified the South and its Lost Cause narrative. They were linked to the Klu Klux Klan who they entrusted with protecting and enforcing the cultural rules codified in the Jim Crow laws. They gloried Klan and the Confederate veterans and vilified the North in the school textbooks they helped rewrite. Still today the distorted notion of a victimized and genteel old South persists, many still waving the Confederate Battle Flag.
The attitudes of the local UDC members that erected this marker in 1933 were, to be sure, typical of the times. The UDC of today do not espouse those attitudes.
A national movement arose in 2020 to remove these monuments. They gloried men, who, after all were traitors and who fought to preserve slavery. Calls to remove Jefferson City’s Confederate marker followed the movement and in October 2020, it was gone.
The problem with the marker was not the history associated with it. In fact, I love that part. Our fair city fortified and armed itself in defense against a Rebel threat. Citizens worked with Union soldiers to dig trenches and erect forts. The Rebel scouts saw a well-protected city and were convinced they were outnumbered, although the reverse was true.
Price, and his generals assessed their next move. Perhaps they were aware that Union reinforcements were headed to Jefferson City? Deciding not to attack they skirted the south edge of town, moving westward to Boonville.
The marker is gone but the controversy continues.
Recently fundraising pavers placed on the grounds of the newly opened Adrian’s Island park were inscribed with the wording from the marker that had been removed. Our City Council had the original marker removed because it honored a Rebel and was erected by an organization associated with the KKK. It offended many of our citizens. Our mayor prudently had the pavers removed.
It is a shame that Parks & Rec had no criteria in place before the pavers were laid. Who knew?
But here we go again.
Third Ward Councilman Scott Spencer proposed a resolution in January:
"We as the City Council representing the citizens of the City of Jefferson recognize the significance of the historical date of Oct. 7, 1864, as a day that lives were spared due to General Sterling Price's decision not to attack the City of Jefferson in the American Civil War. This resolution in no way shall be construed as being sympathetic to the cause of the Confederacy. This date shall serve as a day of remembrance and reflection”.
Price’s name on the plaque was part of the offense. Our city leaders can choose to recognize the industriousness of Jefferson City that prevailed over the threat and promote civic pride OR honor a mediocre Confederate general and cause divisiveness in our community. Take your pick. I will give Councilman Spencer the benefit of doubt and assume that this is not a calculated move to stir unnecessary controversy in the lead up to the April elections.
Why elevate Price to the center of the story rather than the determined, and clever Jefferson Citians and Union troops that duped him? This history can be preserved in a resolution without mentioning the contentious general. (Then that sentence about not being sympathetic to the cause, would be unnecessary.)
How about, “…were spared due to the preparedness of Jefferson City and Union forces against a Confederate threat of attack on….”. This is a great story. Let’s not cancel this history. Let’s have this resolution! But let us recognize the true heroes.
Jenny Smith is a retired forensic chemist with the Highway Patrol Crime Laboratory. She is a member of the News Tribune Reader Advisory Panel.